Details
Creator Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912, artist.
Title Enlistment of Sickles brigade [graphic].
Publisher [Baltimore] : [A. J. Volck]
Publisher MD. Baltimore. 1863
Date [1863]
Physical Description 1 print : etching ; sheet 25 x 31 cm (9.5 x 12 in.)
Description Caustic satire depicting the enlistment by notorious New York Congressman Colonel Daniel Sickles of recruits from offices near New York's crime-ridden Five Points area. The congested scene depicts several men, including African American men, clustered on a city street near a liquor store. In the left, Sickles, unwigged, stands above the crowd, and holds out Bibles in each hand. In the right above the crowd, "Mrs. Higby," wife of a New York clergyman, hands out pipes to the men (an allusion to Sickles's men being given pipes and Bibles for enlisting). A sign near Sickles reads "The Capital in danger. Sickles Brigade to the Rescue!!" A sign near Mrs. Higby reads "Pipes for the noble saviors of their country by Mrs. Higby." The "enlisting" men wear torn, worn, and patched uniforms or street clothes and hold picket signs, guns, and clubs. Within the crowd, a pit bull terrier and a white boy watch the melee, which includes a white man, attired in a uniform and a "Colonel Sickles Brigade" cap, offering an African American man a medal, who scratches his head, next to another African American man, attired in uniform and portrayed in racist caricature, and seated on a barrel. A few years before the war in 1859, Sickles gained notoriety for murdering Philip Barton Key II for having an affair with his wife Teresa Bagioli. He was acquitted based on the first successful use of the insanity defense in the U.S.
Notes Inscribed upper left corner: 6.
Issued as plate 6 in Sketches from the Civil War in North America (London [i.e., Baltimore]: [the author], 1863-1864), a series of pro-Confederacy cartoons drawn and published by Baltimore cartoonist Adalbert John Volck under the pseudonym V. Blada. The "first issue" of 10 prints (numbered 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 16, 21, 24), with imprint "London, 1863" were printed as etchings. The remaining 20 prints (numbered 4, 8, 9-11, 14, 17-20, 23, 25-27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 40, 45) headed "Second and third issues of V. Blada's war sketches" and dated "London, July 30, 1864" were printed as lithographs.
Tile and publication information from series at Brown University Library.
Research file about artist available at repository.
Accessioned 1935.
RVCDC
Description revised 2021.
Access points revised 2021.
Subject Sickles, Daniel Edgar, 1819-1914 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
African American men -- New York (State) -- New York -- Caricatures and cartoons.
African American soldiers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Crowds -- New York (State) -- New York.
Dogs -- New York (State) -- New York.
Racism in popular culture.
Soldiers -- Union -- New York (State) -- New York.
Women -- New York (State) -- New York.
Geographic subject Five Points (New York, N.Y.)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Recruiting & enlistment.
Genre Etchings -- 1860-1870.
Political cartoons -- 1860-1870.
Satires (Visual works) -- 1860-1870.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Volck - Sketches - Volck 6 [2990.F.23]
Accession number 2990.F.23